Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich warns of a credit card scam that is occurring in the Eaton County area affecting gas pumps. Skimmers are being illegally placed on gas pumps and it is an electronic data collecting device that criminals are using to gather information off the magnetic strip on the back of a credit card. Skimmers can vary in size and appearance. Some are used internally and others were designed to be placed on the outside of a card scanning device. Once a criminal has the information they can clone a blank credit card in a matter of seconds. Criminals have the ability to stamp a new card with their information on it, but the magnetic strip will have the victim’s credit card information on it. If it is suspected that a credit card may have been skimmed follow these steps: • Notify the police immediately • Check bank statements to verify the balances-often, even if the card was not lost and you don’t suspect it was skimmed. This allows you to contact the credit card company at the first sign of theft. • If there is a problem contact the credit reporting agencies: Equifax 800-525-6285 or equifax Experian 888-397-3742 or experian TransUnion 800-680-7289 or transunion • Call the credit card company that was compromised to report it to them • Report your case to the Federal Trade Commission so they can track the identity theft 877-IDTHEFT or ftc.gov Be observant! • Examine the gas pump for any signs of equipment being tampered with • Pull on the slot where the credit card is inserted to see if there is a skimmer attached by two sided tape • Examine the slot where credit card are scanned for evidence that it has been tampered with • Check the gas pump for security type tags that are sealed around the equipment. • If there is a seal broken do not use that pump – report it to the gas station staff and use a different pump. • Paying inside may take more time but the card reader is manned by an employee who would notice if there was an attempt to place a skimmer on the reader. • Use the gas pumps closest to the attendant
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 19:30:33 +0000
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